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MONSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006
The regular meeting of the Monson Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room at 110 Main Street. In attendance were Richard E. Guertin and Edward S. Harrison. Kathleen C. Norbut was absent. Also present were the Town Administrator and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Accept Meeting Minutes:
Mr. Harrison made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of February 14, 2006 – open and executive sessions. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Public Hearing – Community Development Block Grant Application:
A public hearing was opened at 7:00 p.m. to discuss Monson’s Community Development Block Grant application. Paul Bracciotti approached the Board of Selectmen. Jim Mazik was in the audience. Mr. Bracciotti said last year Monson missed receiving the Community Development Block Grant by only one point. This year, discussion was centered on projects that were developed for last year, with the exception of two Social Service activities; lower Wales Road, which is a comprehensive infrastructure project with paving, sidewalks, guardrails, and late 19th century water pipe replacement. Coupled with the lower Wales Road infrastructure project would be housing rehabilitation. The two Social Services are: the outreach services, which is a new service proposed by the Council on Aging to provide respite services to
frail elders and the child care subsidies. Mr. Bracciotti explained there are two significant changes this year in how the state looks at this application. The state has asked communities to pick a target area where over the course of three to five years they would hope to accomplish a lot of community development. The Board of Selectmen had a copy of the map indicating Monson’s proposed target area, which includes almost all of the downtown area. A portion of housing rehabilitation would be concentrated on lower Wales Road in order to get the interacting benefit of two significant programs going on in the same place. Mr. Bracciotti explained there are fourteen people on the waiting list for housing rehabilitation who are within the larger target area. Mr. Bracciotti added, last week letters were mailed to residents on lower Wales Road, and they have already received approximately four responses. It was explained up to 20% of the funds for housing rehabilitation can go
outside the target area for emergency projects. To qualify for the Community Development Block Grant, the area must be at least 51% low to moderate income. The Board of Selectmen had a description of the projects and their associated costs. Mr. Mazik said all the projects going on in the target area, such as the South Main Street School project, highway projects, housing rehabilitation, greenways, Cushman Mills, etc. are a big plus, and added Monson has a real competitive and strong application. Mr. Bracciotti explained one good aspect is Monson is proposing to spend some funds of its own, such as Chapter 90 funds to do sidewalks and guardrails, to coincide with the CDBG funds for projects in the same area on lower Wales Road. Mr. Mazik added, the multitude of activities within the target area complements what Mr. Bracciotti just mentioned and gives Monson fifteen bonus points, which will help Monson’s application as well by putting Monson in a stronger position. Mr.
Bracciotti said this year there is a spotlight on citizen participation, and added the Local Partnership for Economic Development sponsored a forum with very broad representation, which was excellent. A second forum was held last week at the Senior Center. Word is also getting out to the citizens by having the Selectmen’s meetings televised live and rebroadcast the following day. Ms. Neggers said Monson has made more of an effort this year to include citizen participation.
Mr. Harrison said one of the concerns which came up at the Senior Center was the issue of transportation. Mr. Bracciotti explained this would be a terrific four town venture because all the neighboring communities tell the same stories of having to take people for medical appointments, dialysis, etc., but a structure would have to be put in place that wouldn’t charge too much. The CDBG can not be used for membership in the PVTA. Mr. Mazik explained, vans have been purchased for specific uses in other applications such as for food delivery, open pantries, transporting low to moderate income families, etc., but the PVTA is a fixed route shuttle which is expensive, as a fee of $2.00 is charged for a one way ride with a $4.00 fee charged for round trip fares. Mr. Guertin said he feels Monson has not done enough for the
seniors in town and would like to see if more could be done in the future.
No one in the audience had anything to say for or against the proposed grant application.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the submission of the FY ‘06 Community Development Block Grant application for the following projects: lower Wales Road infrastructure project for $500,000.00; housing rehabilitation loans for $275,000.00; childcare subsidies for a cost of $48,400.00; and respite services to frail at-home elders for $49,500.00, this would include general administration expenses of $118,500.00 for a total of $991,400.00. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to approve the FY ’06 Town of Monson Community Development Strategy as drafted and amended with the corrections and additions. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
Mr. Harrison thanked Mr. Bracciotti for all of his help with this application.
The public hearing was closed at 7:35 p.m.
John Morrell – Pavement Management Development Strategy:
Amir Kouzehkanani, the senior transportation planner/manager for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Mr. Morrell, approached the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Morrell said Mr. Kouzehkanani was here tonight to explain a little bit to the Board of Selectmen what the Pavement Management System is and how it works. The Pavement Management System is an organized systematic way to address Monson’s deteriorating roads rather then perform in crises response mode all the time. Mr. Morrell added Mr. Kouzehkanani is the gentleman who a little over a year ago inventoried the roads and gave the report on the condition of Monson’s roads, in which it stated the roads were in bad shape. Mr. Morrell said Monson’s roadway network is one of the town’s largest funding liabilities. Mr. Kouzehkanani explained this is a
valuable program, offered by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission who will provide technical assistance to community members. With this program, roads that need routine maintenance can be monitored and attended to prior to needing preventative action, if it isn’t taken care of. This is a systematic process where they collect and analyze pavement distress data in order to come up with a plan for providing the work and maintaining the roads. Mr. Kouzehkanani said the data should be collected on a repeated basis once every two to three years depending data availability, help, budget, etc., but with no longer then a three year span between data collections. The data collection is a process where there are a number of pavement distresses they go after. A visual inspection could be done, which is called a windshield survey, where someone is in a vehicle driving very slowly observing and looking for distresses or they might actually get out of the vehicle to check it out and take
measurements. Mr. Kouzehkanani said for the most part, they would do a windshield survey. Mr. Kouzehkanani explained how the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission became involved with this program. Mr. Morrell said the benefit of having this program would be that it would allow him to have all the road information in front of him coming together, rather then riding around all the time looking at the roads, making it easier to pick and prioritize the roads requiring work. This software program keeps track of the average daily traffic flow on the roads, aiding in prioritizing just how important a road is to the town. This program would allow the town to spend money used on the roads more wisely by stretching the dollar by reducing the backlog of repairs. Ms. Neggers said this would extend the road life cycle using the analysis of multiple factors such as traffic flow, conditions, and the materials the roadway is made out of, so there is more of a scientific analysis of multiple factors
in a lot of different data beyond just the visual observation. Mr. Kouzehkanani said this is a tool designed to assist in making the decision easier.
Mr. Guertin asked about the cost of this program. Mr. Morrell said it depends on how simple you keep it, as the cost varies. They have a program available for $9,000.00. This is Geographic Information System (GIS) based, and requires some technical in house expertise. Mr. Kouzehkanani said they do have technical in house expertise at the regional Planning agency, and might be able to bring the cost down, this way, if the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission has the program, every two to three years they could work with the town by collecting and analyzing the data so Monson doesn’t need to purchase the software. It’s a service they provide and the town would essentially pay them as a contractor for providing this service to the town. This would cost the town approximately $9,000.00 every two to three years. Mr.
Kouzehkanani would up-date the program as it goes along with information from Mr. Morrell so the cost could be minimized in two years. This would cost $4,000.00 to $5,000.00 per year to up-date the data. To reduce the cost of $9,000.00, the town has the option of collecting the data itself. Mr. Kouzehkanani said he could train Mr. Morrell so he would be able to collect the data himself. It would cost approximately $7,000.00 to $8,000.00 if Mr. Morrell was to get his own copy of this software, but he wouldn’t have the GIS, which is actual pictures of mountains, houses, roads, brooks, etc. Mr. Morrell said he hasn’t spoken with any of the other Highway surveyors in the other towns listed as having this program, such as Wilbraham or Ludlow, to see how it works. Mr. Kouzehkanani said the goal would be for Monson to become self-sufficient. Mr. Kouzehkanani said the reason some of the communities are not self-sufficient is because they don’t have the time to collect the
data, but the option has always been there. Mr. Kouzehkanani said he would come in and train the Highway Department employees on how to collect the data and he would supply the service of making sure the data is collected in a proper manner. Mr. Morrell said even if he gets the program, it would take a year or two to get moving on it. Mr. Morrell said this software would not change the way he decides what roads need repair over others. Mr. Harrison said he felt the benefit of this program suggests, you spend more money in the low expense maintenance, in order to preserve that road from getting to the point where more money would be needed. Mr. Kouzehkanani said Mr. Harrison was correct, because the backlog decreases, now you can hopefully spend more money in the construction because you have brought the average pavement condition up to an acceptable level, so now attention can now be paid to the roadways that aren’t in good shape. Ms. Neggers said she would like to see a
sample of the software in action, and to see what the reports look like when they are generated. Mr. Kouzehkanani said the report would reflect existing road conditions, and he would then take the town through several different budget scenarios.
Mr. Guertin said if the money were invested in this program, he would assume the Highway should be operating differently then they have been, or why bother spending the money. Mr. Harrison agreed. Mr. Guertin said he thinks the concept is great; it was just the financial aspect that troubled him. Mr. Morrell said he didn’t feel as though his staff could collect the data, but added he feels this program would give him something solid to present to the Finance Committee each year to show why he needs so much money in his budget to repair the roads due to the increase in the petroleum based products. Ms. Neggers said she didn’t see this as a budget argument with the Finance Committee and said the Finance Committee recommendations are made because there isn’t enough money to go around, and added, the Finance
Committee is very sensitive and well aware of the need there, as they are with needs in all the departments. Mr. Morrell said he knows the Surveyors in both Wilbraham and Belchertown and he would speak with them to see how this program works for them. The Planning Commission has the software; they just don’t have the up-graded version. It was noted the only data the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission has on Monson’s roads is the data from the Federal Aid System, which is about a year and a half old and only covers about 30% of Monson’s roadways. Mr. Morrell said the roads in the Federal Aid System, without naming them all, are pretty much the main arteries that lead from our town to another town, for example, Wilbraham Road, Wales Road and our Main Street, anything else is a local road. Lower Hampden Road is another road in the Federal Aid System as it connects Monson to Hampden and this is why it was repaired last year with the use of grant funding. The Board of
Selectmen agreed this program needs to be explored more.
Mr. Morrell said he hasn’t made a decision yet regarding this program and just wanted to introduce the Board of Selectmen to it for them to think about. Mr. Morrell said he feels it is a good way to go, but agrees you have to check out other peoples experiences with it first. Mr. Kouzehkanani said the Pavement Management and the Pavement Condition Index are now a factor in putting the priority score together for the projects for the Transportation Improvement Program. When the Transportation Improvement Program is put together every year as a document, this is one of the fields that determines what kind of a score the project receives, as they see value in this. Therefore, if you are a town who doesn’t have a program, you are at a disadvantage over a town that does have the program. Mr. Morrell added Monson
has made out better then any other town around here without having the program. Mr. Kouzehkanani said the reason for this is Mr. Morrell has been very instrumental in fighting for the projects which have been done in Monson, where most towns don’t have someone fighting for them in this manner. The Board of Selectmen agreed before taking this to the next step, they would like to know, and see, a little bit more about it.
Correspondence was read and completed.
In Other Business to Come Before the Board of Selectmen:
Mr. Harrison said on April 3rd, at the Polish American Citizens Club, members of the community will have the chance to meet the candidates whom will be on the ballot for the next town election. Tickets are on sale for $15.00 each and are available from any member on the Town Democratic Committee.
Mr. Harrison said they are also holding a candidate forum on either Monday, March 6th or Tuesday, March 7th. This will be televised live over M-PACT. The taping will then be broadcast numerous times on the local access channel between that time and the town election.
At 8:20 p.m., Mr. Harrison made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining (AFSCME), not to return to open session. Mr. Guertin seconded and it was so VOTED.
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Edward S. Harrison, Clerk
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